Drought Tolerant Plants for a Xeric Garden

Drought tolerant plants, xeriscape, water wise gardens are the gardening vocabulary that we are
likely to see for some time to come, particularly in Southern California. Since there is a
limited amount of water that can be extracted from our watersheds before significant environmental
consequences are obvious to us all. It seems prudent to use plants that are native to our region
or from one that is very similar. And to choose plants that are both beautiful and come from the
dryer sections of these landscapes. At first glance it might be thought that a drought tolerant
garden limits the garden to a "desert" look. But there are so many plants well adapted to our
climate that almost any garden style can be created, maybe with the exceptions of tropical rain
forest or golf course greens but there has been a lot of progress on the golf course green front.

To merely ask the question "is it a native California plant?" when choosing plants for your garden,
allows the use of a wide range of aquatic and near aquatic plants as well as desert plants but does not
address the water requirements of those plants. To widen the view but to narrow the horticultural
focus to plants that can withstand our seasons with minimal irrigation seems to be the critical issue.
The American Southwest, Mexico, Australia, New Zealand, South Africa, Chili, and the Mediterranean all
are sources for beautiful plants that come from climates that are similar to ours.

In this world of increasing automation it is easy to program the timer to provide enough water so that
even the thirsty plants are quenched. One of the most surprising lessons in my gardening career was when
the local municipality told us to turn off all sprinkler systems. Predictably the lawns turned brown
and crunched while you walked on them. The surprising part to me was how many plants actually did better.
For years we have had drought tolerant plants produced by our local nurseries that were often over-watered
and rotted in our landscapes. Look to our review of Smart Sprinkler Timers.

One of the greatest challenges for the plant buying public is to get well enough educated about the plants
that we go to a garden center knowing what we want to buy. Small plants that are not currently flowering are
probably the ones to we really want. In spite of sometimes looking rather awful in their containers many
drought tolerant plants will flourish in our landscapes. If we wait for them to be big and overflowing their
containers they often transition badly into the landscape. We should be buying a plant because we know what
it will do in our garden rather than what impulse we feel when we look at that plant. Many of the plants on
this list have a relatively short life span. There is little point in having the larger part of that life
spent distressed by being cramped into a nursery container.

Plants do not fare well with the chloramines and other water sanitizing chemicals. No surprise, the point
of the chemicals is to kill the microscopic plants and animals that might make us sick drinking the water.
The result so far as the plants are concerned, an inch of irrigated water or an inch of rain on the landscape
does not produce the same results. It is easy to see how happy the plants are when we finally get the natural
choice. I spend a significant part of my time in gardens trying to fix the soil chemistry caused by our water.

Fall is when a plant's roots will grow the most. This is the easiest time to get a drought tolerant garden
established. Healthy roots lead to robust foliage in the Spring and lots of flowers. Spring is when the
plants main energy is spent on flowers and seeds. If the roots are not fully established summer survival is
a trial, and a race between dehydration and rot. Drought tolerant plants are only capable of withstanding a
drought if their roots are well established into the surrounding soil.

This drought tolerant plants list is compiled from our observations of the plant survivors from neglected
gardens. So many times we have found some plant fully in its glory thriving in spite of the neglect. And from
plants on the margins of the irrigated zone where in spite of their lean providence they shine anyways.

This list is by no means complete, but as you can see there are plenty of plants to fill your yard, school,
or park without bothering to repeat.